The Redmont Rumor Mill
by WilsonWisdom25
Summary: Fame and Ranger reputation have a cost Will wasn't prepared for. Maybe he never will be. I like stories that feature gratuitous rumors and gossip hens. I might have a problem but I an stop anytime I want. Rated T for suggestions. Don't get used to regular updates.


From A Single, Simple Kiss

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Will winced a bit as he waited from outside of the farrier's stable, Tug giving the poor man pure hell as he was fitted with a new set of shoes. But it wasn't from a shared pain that Will winced, nor was it the soreness in his arms and back that came with so much use of the new bow he was training with.

No, Will winced as his hearing, trained to pick up on the drawl of everyday conversation with more awareness and clarity, betrayed him and told him of the two women, one a vendor and the other and customer, spied him waiting directly across the street and began to speak on a subject he'd rather not have been in the know about.

A rumor. About him.

Of course, they didn't bother to be too quiet about it, expecting that the ambient noise of a day in Redmont's market place to hide their conversation.

Will wished he could tell them how wrong they were. He really, really did.

And of course, most of the rumors were blown out of proportion. This one especially had him fighting the blush crawling up his neck beneath his cloak's hood.

It was about the celebration of the ward children's feast a few weeks ago after Will had turned down Knighthood in favor of remaining at Halt's side, after helping kill a certain terrifying bear ape beast with very flammable hair. More specifically it was bout the kiss he'd received from Alyss at said feast.

The rumor had made it seems as though he'd been the perpetrator of the kiss. It made him seem like an absolute scoundrel. Speaking sweet nothing's to Alyss. Pulling her toward him like many a drunken, handsy patron would a willing tavern maid. Pawing at her lecherously. Grabbing her by the back of the head and planting one right on her. Alyss puttng up little to no resistance.

Then a some unflattering comments bout what the ward children must get up to without proper supervision.

Will may have been a Ranger's apprentice, but Halt's advice to let people talk what they wished or believed was not the best advice for a young man of nearly sixteen. He could only hide his discomfort for so long.

His weight shifted back and forth from one foot to the other beneath his cloak. He feigned checking his knives.

"Quite anxious to wear down Tug's new shoes aren't you?" Halt's voice didn't catch him by surprise as it spoke from beside him, Abelard sniffing his hood softly. Well, it certainly surprised him, but he didn't let it show outwardly; another of Halt's lesson's that stuck just bit better. It never helped a ranger to how their thoughts to the world, he'd said. Something about his tone had seemed... not really mocking, but certainly teasing. A little like how he sounded now, actually.

"No, just hoping the farrier doesn't ban us if Tug takes his gloves off him again." Not a lie, it just happened to be something else he was thinking about but honestly wasn't as nervous about in this moment. Tug continued to live up to his name and had managed to steal both the man's gloves individually before Will had even handed over the reigns. Halt had said this would be one of the few times when someone else would be allowed to care for Tug, or any Ranger horses. Something's were better left to the experts, and Will was not even novice in horse shoes metallurgy.

"Hmm, good point.", Halt said contemplating, petting Abelard's snout affectionately, "Maybe it's all the apples you keep sneaking him."

Uh-oh. The touchy subject between the Ranger and his apprentice's mount.

Turning to face his mentor, Will found himself the focus of the hawk-like gaze. Even Abelard seemed to scrutinize

"It's just one apple a day, Halt. It doesn't add up to much." He said, hearing a firm thump on wood that couldn't be mistaken for anything but a Ranger horse kicking it's one free leg. The farrier cursed something about a devil, "Just something like a little extra kindling in a fire."

"A little extra kindling makes a fire that's more visible at a distance. A more visible fire means allies and enemies alike can see you from a mile off, then what good are you?" Halt said as he stopped stroking Abelard, the larger horse seeming to nod in agreement with his rider, "Ranger's don't have fat horses, Will."

Another solid thump and the farrier's hammer went spiraling through the air. It would have hit Will who was shocked at the height it achieved, but Halt reached out and caught it by the handle.

Walking into the stable to return it, he spoke to the air as he turned the corner. "Touchy fat horse, isn't he?"

Another thump and the farrier's stool went flying out at a height that would have intersected Halt's head. Will assumed he ducked.

"Why don't you kick off the extra apples too, Tub?"

A good twenty minutes later, Tug's new shoes were finally connected and the farrier could now be rid of the doughy devil.

Not that he'd say it out loud.

Halt, having knelt to inspect the work and point out the intricacy and utilities of the attached shoes to Will, stood straight and dusted his knees clean, Abelard approaching, "Do take my advice, Will. If you get him too used to excess, he won't be able handle possible scarcity as well as he could."

"Understood." Will chimed as he rubbed Tug's snout and proceeded to climb into the saddle as Halt did the same with Abelard.

"Good, people already gossip about Ranger affairs too often." Halt groused.

Will noticed his tone, but his attention was drawn to the two women again. Whispering away as they spotted Ranger and apprentice, the women pointed none to discreetly toward him. They didn't see him looking at them, Will glimpsing them from the corner of his eye, but he still felt his face flush a bit at what he remembered them saying about him an Alyss. He tried to hide his discomfort, questioning Halt as he settled on Tug's back again, "I thought you said to let hem talk whatever kept them out of our business."

"Yes, I did." Halt agreed, but turned to Will, a tone of mocking returning to hi voice, "But not if what they say is so accurate. We Ranger's have an image to uphold, afterall. We can't just go around kissing maidens atop our fat horses now can we?"

As he urged Abelard into a steady trot, Halt left Will to do battle with the insulted and indignant Tug. As he was bucked almost out of the saddle, Will could only hope the Redmont Rumor Mill would find a new victim to pray upon.

He didn't hope nearly hard enough.

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**AN: **It's been a while since I submitted anything worth while so take this, my first entry into the "The Ranger's Apprentice" fandom. Wanted to read this book years before but finally got the time, and money, to do so. Next update will come after I start and finish The Burning Bridge. Not an exact time table sine I'm still reading Art of War by Sun Tzu, about to start "Crimes Against Logic" and am still juggling a bunch of other fanfic stories I'm reading.


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